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The Gravenhurst Station in a Festive Spirit
The twinkle lights of the Gravenhurst Station Café lend an inviting welcome to passers by on a snowy Monday afternoon in Gravenhurst. Despite the cancellation of the Ontario Northland Railway Passenger service from Toronto to North Bay, the Gravenhurst Station still welcomes all of the bus passengers travelling through the Town as well as a number of local town folk who enjoy the warm hospitality and variety of lunches, baking and beverages that are available. Complete with tasteful Christmas decorations and seasonal displays in the Muskoka Rail Museum, the Gravenhurst Station is a great spot to drop in for a visit right here in Gravenhurst. Fred Schulz Photo
THE MUSKOKA TOWNS I USED TO KNOW - NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WERE TIGHT-KNIT AND HOMETOWN PROUD
CHRISTMAS WITH A SMALL TOWN AMBIENCE -
FROM MY PREVIOUS CHRISTMAS SEASON BLOG, REGARDING THE SLIPPING SENSE OF PRIDE, "BEING MUSKOKAN," IT MAY HAVE SEEMED I WAS BEING PRETTY HARD ON THE THREE MAIN TOWNS OF OUR DISTRICT. I POINTED OUT, THAT IN QUEST OF THE MODERN DAY FOLK HISTORY OF MUSKOKA, I WOULD NOT SEEK IT OUT, INITIALLY, BY GOING TO PUBLIC EVENTS IN THESE TOWNS. IF I WANTED TO GO FOR A GOOD TIME, WITH GOOD AND CARING PEOPLE, I WOULD DEFINITELY ATTEND AND BRING OUR WHOLE FAMILY......AS WE HAVE DONE FOR DECADES. WHAT I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR, IS THE SOCIAL / CULTURAL HERITAGE OF OUR REGION, ROOTED IN THE 1860'S OF PIONEER MUSKOKA. IT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN CHASING AFTER FOR THE PAST THIRTY-FIVE YEARS, AND IT'S WHAT I FOUND ALIVE AND WELL, BUT MOSTLY IN THE RURAL AREAS OF THE DISTRICT. THE URBAN AREAS HAVE, IN THIS SENSE, BEEN INNOCENTLY CORRUPTED BY MANY NEW REALITIES, RELATED TO ECONOMIC DIVERSITY, OUTSIDE INVESTMENT, TEMPORARY RESIDENCY, RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES, AND A YOUNGER POPULATION THAT DOESN'T GIVE A HOOT ABOUT MAINTAINING A TRADITI0N, OF WHICH THEY HAVE NO VESTED, OR CULTURAL INTEREST IN PRESERVING. WHILE THERE HAVE BEEN MANY CHANGES IN THE RURAL DIVERSITY, AND ITS OWN ECONOMIC CHANGES, ESPECIALLY IN THE PAST TWENTY YEARS, THERE IS STILL CLEAR EVIDENE OF THE RURAL HERITAGE THAT WAS COMMENCED BY THOSE STALWART PIONEERS, OF THE LATE 1850 AND 60'S, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF FREE LAND GRANTS. IF YOU READ YESTERDAY'S BLOG, YOU'D APPRECIATE THAT IT WAS THE GOVERNMENT THAT TOOK THE MOST ADVANTAGE, IN THE WHOLE HOMESTEAD DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE.
WHEN OUR FAMILY ARRIVED IN MUSKOKA, IN EARLY 1966, BRACEBRIDGE HAD A POPULATION OF ABOUT 2,700, BUT THIS OF COURSE, WAS BEFORE THE CHANGES IMPOSED BY REGIONAL AMALGAMATION, IN THE LATE 1960'S; THAT WOULD BRING WARDS TOGETHER, INTO MORE SUBSTANTIAL TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS. THUS THE POPULATION WENT UP IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE EXPANDED BOUNDARIES. THE POINT IS, THAT IN 1966, BRACEBRIDGE WAS A BUSTLING LITTLE TOWN, JUST LIKE GRAVENHURST WAS, AT AROUND THE SAME POPULATION. HUNTSVILLE WAS PROBABLY LARGER BUT NOT BY MUCH. HAVING JUST COME FROM BURLINGTON, ONTARIO, A SMALL BUT EVER-GROWING CITY, IT WAS QUITE A CULTURE SHOCK, ARRIVING IN WHAT MY MOTHER USED TO CALL "SLEEPY HOLLOW." THIS WAS BEFORE SHE KNEW THE TOWN HAD BEEN NAMED AFTER A BOOK, WRITTEN BY WASHINGTON IRVING, ENTITLED, "BRACEBRIDGE HALL." IRVING OF COURSE, WROTE "THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW." I SUPPOSE IT WAS A LITTLE PROPHETIC, TO MY OWN FUTURE INVOLVEMENT, IN THE STUDY OF WASHINGTON IRVING. I LOVED ALL THE CHARACTERISTIC SMALL TOWN ATTRIBUTES, ALTHOUGH MY FAMILY HAD A HARD TIME ADJUSTING TO THE SLOWER PACE OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. WHEN MY DAD NEEDED A BOOST FOR HIS CAR, IT WASN'T AN IMMEDIATE THING; TO HAVE A TOW TRUCK SHOW UP IN A MATTER OF MINUTES OR A FEW HOURS. IT COULD BE TWO DAYS, AND NOT JUST BECAUSE THEY HAPPENED TO BE BUSY. THEY CERTAINLY WEREN'T GOING TO CHANGE THE CONTENTING PACE OF SMALL TOWN LIFE FOR A FAMILY OF CITY SLICKERS. MY DAD WAS TOLD THIS A LOT IN THE FIRST YEAR OF RESIDENCY. "THIS ISN'T THE CITY NOW MR. CURRIE," A PLUMBING SUPPLY OWNER, INFORMED HIM, ONE DAY WHEN HE WAS GETTING IMPATIENT IN HIS SHOP. "YOU'D BE WISE TO CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE, OR YOU'LL NEVER LAST HERE."
IT ISN'T TO IGNORANTLY SUGGEST, ALL PROFESSIONALS WERE SLOW AND PLODDING, BACK THEN, JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE IN THE RURAL CLIME. IT WASN'T THE MIRROR OF TELEVISION'S "HOOTERVILLE," "PETTICOAT JUNCTION," OR THE BEVERELY HILLBILLIES FORMER HOMETOWN, "BUGTUSTLE," BUT MERLE AND ED USED TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE SLOWER, LESS AGGRESSIVE PACE, SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY HADN'T FIGURED OUT HOW TO SEPARATE FROM THE STRESSES OF URBAN LIVING. "IT'S LIKE MAYBERRY, AND WE'VE EVEN GOT A SHERIFF TAYLOR AND BARNEY FIFE," AS RELATED TO THE BRACEBRIDGE POLICE FORCE, AT THE TIME. THEY WERE JUST BEING SARCASTIC, BECAUSE THOSE LADS ON THE FORCE BECAME FRIENDS OF OURS IN LATER YEARS. IT JUST TOOK A LITTLE WARM-UP TIME. MUCH LESS FOR ME. HERE'S WHY!
IN BURLINGTON, IN 1964 AND 1965, MY NOVICE HOCKEY GAMES WERE AT THREE OR FOUR IN THE MORNING, AT THE LARGE TOWN ARENA. THE SAME WENT FOR THE OPEN AIR KIWANIS RINK, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN. SO MY FATHER WOULD HAVE TO GET UP, AT THIS UNGODLY HOUR, GET ME READY FOR THE GAME (I DRESSED AT HOME, FOR REASONS OF TIMING), AND DOWN A CUP OF INSTANT COFFEE; DRIVE ME TO THE GAME IN ALL KINDS OF HORRIBLE WINTER WEATHER, WATCH THE THREE PERIODS OF PLAY (EQUALLING AN HOUR ONLY BECAUSE OF ICE DEMAND), AND THEN DRIVE ME HOME, SEND ME BACK TO BED, WHILE HE HAD TO THEN GET READY TO GO TO WORK, AT A LUMBER COMPANY IN HAMILTON. IN BRACEBRIDGE, MY HOCKEY TIME AT THE HISTORIC MEMORIAL COMMUNITY CENTRE, WOULD BE NO EARLIER THAN EIGHT IN THE MORNING, ON SATURDAYS. IF THERE WERE PRACTICES, THEY WERE EITHER ON WEEKNIGHTS, AFTER THE DINNER HOUR, OR LATER ON SATURDAY AFTERNOONS. TALK ABOUT HOCKEY HEAVEN. MY DAD WAS LOVING THE SIMPLER, LESS STRESSFUL COUNTRY LIVING THING, EVER SO GRADUALLY. IT ADDED YEARS TO HIS LIFE, GETTING OUT OF THE URBAN GRIND, OF WHICH HE AND MY MOTHER WERE ACCUSTOMED, BUT NOT COMPATIBLE.
AS A YOUNG LAD, I WAS A PRETTY FAIR NETMINDER, AS N.H.L. ALLSTAR GOALIE, ROGER CROZIER ONCE TOLD ME (AND I NEARLY FLIPPED-OUT THAT HE HAD THOUGHT I WAS NHL MATERIAL). I PLAYED HOCKEY ALL OVER THIS REGION AND BEYOND. I HAD LOTS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE OLD RINK BARNS, PLAYING ON HARD NATURAL ICE, IN TEMPERATURES SO COLD, PUCKS WOULD SPLIT, AND PLAYERS GOT FROST BITE IN LESS THAN THE TIME OF ONE PERIOD OF PLAY. ALL US TOUGH HOCKEYISTS WOULD START CRYING IN THE DRESSING ROOM, PUTTING OUR FEET NEAR THE STOVE PIPE, WHICH WOULD RUN THROUGH THE CENTRE OF THE TINY ROOM; THE UNBELIEVABLE PAIN, WHEN THE BLOOD STARTED TINGLING BACK INTO OUR FROSTED TOES. I GOT TO SEE ALL THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES FROM 1966 ONWARD, THROUGH BOTH HOCKEY AND BASEBALL, BOTH OF WHICH I WAS PASSIONATE ABOUT, AND NEVER MISSED A SEASON RIGHT UP TO RECREATIONAL PLAY ON SENIOR TEAMS. WHAT IT GAVE ME, WAS A CLOSE-UP LOOK AT RURAL AND TOWN LIVING, AND HOW THEY EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS OF MY CONSTANT ASSOCIATION. I PLAYED MY HOCKEY IN GRAVENHURST OVER BY THE FORMER RUBBERSET FACTORY, ON FIRST STREET, AND IT WAS A FABULOUSLY APPOINTED STRUCTURE, WHERE I ALSO ROLLER SKATED IN THE SUMMER MONTHS. I PLAYED REGULARLY IN MACTIER, BAYSVILLE, PORT CARLING, BALA, GRAVENHURST, AND HUNTSVILLE, BUT THE TOWNS I BELIEVE ALL HAD ARTIFICIAL ICE SURFACES. THE OTHERS, GADS, WERE THEY COLD. IT WAS OFTEN NOTED BY THE OLDTIMERS, FROM THOSE COMMUNITIES, THAT IT WAS ALWAYS COLDER IN THE RINK, THAN IT WAS OUTSIDE. I NEVER THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY. THERE WAS A NOSTALGIA ABOUT THOSE OLD BARN-LIKE STRUCTURES, THAT WAS SO INGRAINED WITH CANADIAN HOCKEY, THEY ALL SHOULD HAVE BEEN PRESERVED, AT LEAST WITH A LOT OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE WAY IT WAS. THIS IS WHAT MADE HOCKEY SO INTIMATE WITH HARDINESS. BEFORE THIS, LIKE MY FATHER-IN-LAW, NORM STRIPP, THE GAMES BETWEEN THE LADS OF WINDERMERE AND AREA, WOULD PLAY THEIR COMPETITORS FROM PORT CARLING, ON A CLEARED OFF SECTION OF LAKE OR RIVER. HE TOLD ME ONCE ABOUT HIKING ACROSS THE LAKE WITH HIS HOCKEY CHUMS, AND GETTING CONSUMED BY A BLIZZARD THAT HAD SUDDENLY COME UP. THEY HAD TO HOLE-UP AT AN ISLAND COTTAGE, UNTIL THE WIND SETTLED. THEY WERE ABLE TO MAKE THEIR HOCKEY DATE, IN PORT CARLING, NONE THE LESS.....JUST A LITTLE BEHIND SCHEDULE.
I GOT TO KNOW MUSKOKA AT A TIME IN ITS HISTORY, BEFORE THE URBANIZING TREND BEGAN CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE FOREVER. I USED TO SKATE ON A NUMBER OF INTERCONNECTING PONDS, ON BRACEBRIDGE'S BALLS FLATS, ON A STRETCH OF HIGHWAY 118 THAT IS NOW A MAJOR, HIGH TRAFFIC COMMERCIAL NODE. NARY A POND LEFT. I CAN STILL RECALL THE HUNDREDS OF FELLOW SKATERS, ENJOYING THE HUGE OUTDOOR SKATING OPPORTUNITIES, THE RETIRED PASTURE HAD TO OFFER THE CITIZENS OF TOWN. IMAGINE IT, IF YOU CAN, AT AROUND CHRISTMAS TIME, WITH ALL THESE SKATERS, AND THE SMALL OIL LAMPS THEY USED TO BRING TO THE FIELD? THIS WASN'T THE EARLY 1900'S, FOR GOSH SAKES. IT WAS THE LATE 1960'S AND EARLY 70'S, BEFORE URBAN SPRAWL CARPETED THE PASTURE WITH TARMAC. I REMEMBER COMING HOME ON THOSE COLD WINTER NIGHTS, EXHAUSTED AND CHILLED TO THE BONE, AND WALKING DOWN THE QUEEN'S HILL, WHERE I'D STOP FOR A MOMENT, TO LOOK THROUGH THE HUGE FRONT WINDOWS, INTO THE LOBBY OF THE HISTORIC PATTERSON HOTEL (ONCE KNOWN AS THE QUEEN'S HOTEL), ON MANITOBA STREET, WHERE RESIDENTS (WHO RENTED ROOMS MONTHLY AT THAT TIME), SAT BY THE HEARTH AND THE BIG CHRISTMAS TREE, WITH ITS DAZZLING MULTI-COLORED LIGHTS. THOSE BIG COMFORTABLE LOUNGE CHAIRS, SURE LOOKED INVITING TO A HALF-FROZEN KID, STILL HAVING A LONG HIKE HOME TO ALICE STREET.
THERE WAS A CHARM TO ALL OF THE SMALL TOWN FIXTURES, LANDMARKS, MEETING PLACES, ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTING VENUES, NOT TO FORGET THE RESIDENT CHARACTERS WHO MADE THE HOME TOWNS UNIQUE AND COLORFUL. I MISS THEM MOST OF ALL. BRACEBRIDGE HAD THEIR RESIDENT GREETERS, IN RANDY CARSWELL, AND TOMMY HOLLIDAY, BOTH WHO ENTERTAINED AUDIENCES AT THE POST OFFICE. TOMMY AND RANDY WERE SPORTS FANATICS, AND THEY FOUND THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, OF THE POST OFFICE, A PERFECT PLACE TO GREET THOSE CITIZENS COMING FOR THE MORNING MAIL....OR JUST PASSING ALONG MANITOBA STREET. THEY WERE FIXTURES INTO THE 1980'S, AND FOR RANDY INTO THE 1990'S, BEFORE HE SUCCUMBED TO COMPLICATIONS FROM DIABETES. THEN THERE WAS FRED "BING" CROSBY, WHO WAS A HUGE SPORTS' BOOSTER IN THE COMMUNITY, WHO HAD BEEN COACH TO SEVERAL THOUSAND KIDS OVER HIS LIFETIME; AND WHO WAS A FIXTURE IN TOWN, OFTEN SITTING WITH TOMMY HOLLIDAY, ON THE PORCH OF THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY HOME, AT THE INTERSECTION OF MANITOBA STREET AND DOMINION. I MET THESE TWO LADS EVERY MORNING ON MY WAY TO WORK AT THE HERALD-GAZETTE, FURTHER UP THE STREET TOWARD TOWN HALL. RANDY WOULD HAVE ALREADY GIVEN ME THE BASEBALL OR HOCKEY SCORES FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE, WHEN I'D MEET HIM AT THE POST OFFICE, AS I WALKED FROM MY APARTMENT IN THE FORMER HOME OF DR. PETER MCGIBBON. TOMMY HAD ALL THE LOCAL BALL SCORES, AND SOME HOCKEY BELIEVE-IT-OR-NOTS. BING COULD FILL IN THE REST OF THE NIGHT'S ACTION. THIS WAS OUR FOLK HISTORY OF BRACEBRIDGE, THEY WAY I LIKED IT! BELIEVE ME, IT IMPRESSED UPON ME, THE IMPORTANCE OF OLD TIME VALUES; YOU KNOW, LIKE CITIZEN TO CITIZEN COMMUNICATION, THAT I MISS SO MUCH TODAY. NOW IT'S BEEN REPLACED BY "TEXTING," AND "TWEETING." WHAT HAVE WE BECOME? WHAT IS BEING NEGLECTED IN THE PROCESS OF GOING HIGH TECH WITH EVERYTHING? WHAT ARE WE LOSING OF SMALL TOWN CULTURE, BY PROGRESS AND SPRAWLING DEVELOPMENT INTO THE HINTERLAND?
IN GRAVENHURST, REMEMBER CLIFF AND SHORTY? YOU COULDN'T PASS BY EITHER, WITHOUT A BIG, HALE AND HEARTY HELLO, AND CLIFF WANTING TO TALK ABOUT THE BIG HOCKEY GAME OF THE NIGHT BEFORE. SHORTY USED TO ASK ME, AT YARD SALES, TO MAKE MY OWN CHANGE. HE'D HOLD OUT HIS ARTHRITIC, GNARLED HANDS, WITH MONEY IN THE PALM, AND ASK ME TO TAKE WHAT I NEEDED....FROM WHATEVER I'D PAID HIM FOR A YARD SALE CHAIR OR PAINTING. I BOUGHT A LOT OF ITEMS OFF SHORTY OVER THE YEARS. WHAT A TRUSTING LITTLE CHAP. TWO PLEASANT CITIZENS WHO LOVED THIS LITTLE TOWN. THEY WERE GOODWILL AMBASSADORS EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES. OF COURSE WE TOOK THEM FOR GRANTED. WE JUST EXPECTED THEY'D BE AROUND TO CHEER US UP FOREVER. TALK ABOUT NAIVE. WE SHOULD HAVE SHOWN THEM HOW MUCH WE APPRECIATED THEIR CHARITABLE EFFORTS. THOSE TWO GENTS REPRESENTED A WHOLE CHAPTER ON THE FOLK HERITAGE OF OUR REGION. THEY BESTOWED A LOT OF CHARITABLE WORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE LESS FORTUNATE IN THIS TOWN; SHORTY GIVING OUT TEDDY BEARS DURING THE SANTA CLAUSE PARADE (REMEMBER HIS DECORATED THREE WHEELED BIKE?), AND CLIFF WORKED THE SALVATION ARMY KETTLES DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON....AMONGST OTHER VOLUNTEER GIGS.
IT'S NOT LIKE WE CAN FREEZE TIME, TO STOP THESE CHANGES FROM OCCURRING. TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN. BUT WHAT ARE WE LOSING THAT WE NEED TO GUARD, AS STEWARDS, OF OUR MUSKOKA IDENTITY. WHICH AFTERALL, IS ABOUT RURAL LIVING. TODAY WE HAVE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN OUR COMMUNITIES FOR SHORT TERM PERIODS; WORKING AT VARIOUS INDUSTRIES AND THE PENITENTIARY COMPLEX, IN GRAVENHURST, WHO MAY BE TRANSFERRED TO SOME OTHER COMMUNITY, INSIDE OF FIVE YEARS. HARDLY TIME ENOUGH TO REALLY GET INTO THIS RURAL-LIVING THING. RETIREES WHO HAVE SPENT MOST OF THEIR LIVES IN OTHER REGIONS, AND HAVE RELOCATED TO BE CLOSER TO FAMILY, HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME DEALING WITH SOME OF THE SHORT-FALLS OF NON-URBAN RESIDENCY; ESPECIALLY WITH LIMITED SERVICES, COMPARED TO WHAT THEY HAVE BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO ELSEWHERE. IT'S NOT THE CASE, THAT THEY AREN'T INTERESTED IN KNOWING MORE ABOUT THE SOCIAL / CULTURAL HERITAGE OF MUSKOKA, BUT IT'S NOT IMPERATIVE OR A REQUIREMENT OF RESIDENCY. AS STEWARDS OF THIS LEGACY, THEY AREN'T THE MOST SUITABLE CURATORS, NOR DO THEY WANT TO BE. THERE ARE MANY ABSENTEE LANDLORDS TODAY, WHO HAVE ONLY INVESTMENT INTEREST IN MUSKOKA, AND WHILE CONTRIBUTING TO THE ECONOMICS OF THE REGION, ARE LESS INTERESTED IN PRESERVING A HERITAGE THEY NEVER HAD ANY PART OF, OR STAKE IN; UNLESS BUYING A HERITAGE BUILDING, AND RESTORING IT TO ORIGINAL GRANDEUR. THIS ISN'T TO IMPLY THAT THESE FOLKS DON'T MAKE GOOD CITIZENS....JUST THAT IT'S NOT LIKELY THEY WILL BE THE BEST CHOICE OF RESIDENTS, TO SAVE WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW IS AT RISK; OF BEING LOST OUT OF DISINTEREST. AS FOR HAVING A "MUSKOKA" CHRISTMAS, THEY ONLY KNOW OF THIS BY THE LOCATION OF THEIR HOMES.....NOT THAT IT HAS AN INHERENT RELATIONSHIP WITH EITHER ITS PIONEERING PAST, OR THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NATURE OF THIS VAST REGIONAL HINTERLAND.
I MARRIED A VILLAGE GIRL, FROM WINDERMERE, ON LAKE ROSSEAU. I HAVE LIVED RURALLY, IN FOOTE'S BAY, ON GOLDEN BEACH ROAD IN BRACEBRIDGE, NEAR THE FORMER BANGOR LODGE, ON BEAUMONT DRIVE, ON ALPORT BAY, LAKE MUSKOKA, ALSO IN BRACEBRIDGE, AND AT THE FAMILY COTTAGE, IN WINDERMERE. I KNOW THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF LIVING RURALLY. THE HARDSHIPS, DISTANCE DRIVING, AND RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE AND ITS SEASONAL EXCESSES. I ALSO KNOW THAT THERE IS A NEIGHBORLINESS THAT IS UNIQUE AMONGST RURAL RESIDENTS, THAT LINKS BACK TO THE WAY THE FIRST HOMESTEADERS SET UP THEIR CROSSROADS SETTLEMENTS, AND HAMLETS ACROSS THIS DISTRICT; AND THEY ARE STILL VISIBLE AND VIABLE, MUCH AS THEY WERE THEN, SOCIALLY AND CULTURALLY THAT IS; WHEN FOLKS HELPED EACH OTHER SURVIVE TOUGH TIMES BY SHARING LABORS AND PROVISIONS. THE COMMUNITY SUPPERS, HELD IN THESE RURAL COMMUNITIES, AT CHARMING LITTLE HALLS, STILL DEMONSTRATE THE PIONEER FELLOWSHIP, THAT BROUGHT FOLKS TOGETHER AT A TIME, WHEN THERE WERE MILES OF BUSH BETWEEN FARMSTEADS....AND PERILS OF THIS ISOLATION, WERE UNDENIABLY PROFOUND!
IT'S MUCH HARDER TO FIND EVIDENCE OF THE LONGSTANDING "MUSKOKA" FOLK-HERITAGE THESE DAYS, ESPECIALLY IN THE MAJOR TOWNS. IT EXISTS IF YOU KNOW WHERE AND HOW TO FIND IT.....QUILTED NOW INTO TO THIS MODERN, CELL-PHONE, CYBER-SPACE, URBANIZING, HARRIED LIFESTYLE. THAT'S LIFE! SADLY SO FOR SOME OF US, WHO LOVED THE WAY IT WAS.....BECAUSE OF WHAT IT DIDN'T HAVE AS CONVENIENCE.
SUZANNE AND THE BOYS, HAVING BEEN BORN AND RAISED IN MUSKOKA (MUSKOKA-BILLIES), ARE ONCE AGAIN INVITING ME, A CITY KID, TO CELEBRATE A MUSKOKA CHRISTMAS WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS....WITH A LOT OF PIONEER INFLUENCES HAVING SURVIVED THE CHALLENGES OF TIME. WE WON'T BE COOKING OVER AN OPEN FIRE, OR HAULING HOME THE REMAINS OF WILD GAME FOR CHRISTMAS DINNER. SUZANNE WON'T BE COOKING LIKE HER GREAT GRANDMOTHER SHEA, IN AN IRON POT, IN AN OPEN HARTH, AND WE WON'T HAVE SNOW BLOWING IN ON US, THROUGH THE LOOSE CHINKING OF THE LOG CABIN. IN OUR OWN WAY HOWEVER, WE WILL HONOR THOSE WHO BROKE TRAIL FOR US, IN THIS MODERN MUSKOKA, BY HAVING A MERRY CHRISTMAS TUCKED INTO THIS BEAUTIFULLY ATTIRED REGION, WE CALL HOME.
THANKS FOR JOINING FRED SCHULZ AND I TODAY, FOR THIS TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE. FRED HAS BEEN BUSY FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS, TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS AROUND THE REGION, FOR THIS SPECIAL CHRISTMAS SEASON BLOG. HE'S FINDING IT ALL QUITE AN ADVENTURE. WE'RE ANXIOUSLY AWAITING SOME MORE OF HIS SOUTH MUSKOKA MEMORIES, ESPECIALLY FROM KILWORTHY, WHERE HIS FAMILY USED TO OPERATE THE WELL KNOWN AND RESPECTED, KILWORTHY GENERAL STORE. LOTS MORE COMING. PLEASE JOIN MY FRIENDLY, EVER-CHIRPING CRICKET, AND ALL THE INMATES HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, FOR A VERY TRADITIONAL MUSKOKA CHRISTMAS.
NOTE: I WROTE THE TRIBUTE COLUMN, PUBLISHED BELOW, AS A BELATED MEMORIAL TRIBUTE, TO AN OLD JOURNALISM COLLEAGUE; IT RAN LATE LAST NOVEMBER....BUT A NUMBER OF READERS SUGGESTED I SHOULD RUN IT AGAIN, FOR THE BENEFIT OF READERS WHO HAVE JUST NOW JOINED OUR CHRISTMAS SERIES. IT'S AN IMPORTANT STORY TO OUR FAMILY, AND ONCE AGAIN, A REASON WE SHOULD NEVER ABANDON RECALLING THE VERY IMPORTANT PERSONAL, FOLK HISTORY OF OUR COMMUNITY....AND OUR REGION. THERE ARE THOSE MOVERS AND SHAKERS IN OUR TOWN TODAY, WHO ACT AS IF THE ONLY REALITY THAT COUNTS, IS WHAT HAPPENS TODAY, FOR THE IMPACT ON TOMORROW. I AM A TRADITIONALIST, WHO KNOWS THAT IT IS NAIVE AND FOOLISH, TO DISRESPECT THOSE WHO BUILT THE PLATFORM ON WHICH WE STAND NOW....SECURE AND COMFORTABLE, TO ENTERTAIN THE FUTURE. WE'VE HAD LOTS OF VISIONARIES AND COMMUNITY LEADERS, IN OUR PAST, WHO CAPABLY GOT US TO THIS POINT IN MODERN HISTORY. THERE ACCOMPLISHMENTS SHOULD SERVE AS INSPIRATION FOR DECADES TO COME....DESPITE THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE TO, BY POLITICAL WILL AND ARROGANCE, CHANGE HISTORY TO SUIT THEMSELVES. THIS IS A TRIBUTE TO SOMEONE WHO ALWAYS "STUCK HIS OAR IN," AND WE'RE A BETTER COMMUNITY BECAUSE HE DID. I WILL LONG REMEMBER THE CONTRIBUTION MADE BY HUGH CLAIRMONT, IN THE TOWN HE ADORED.
WHO WILL TELL THE STORIES……. ABOUT WHAT IT WAS REALLY LIKE IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS?
OR WILL FUTURE GENERATIONS WANT TO KNOW? WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE HERE, IF WE HADN'T BEEN BORN?
TO BORROW A LITTLE MORAL SNIPIT FROM THE MOVIE, "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE," IF HUGH CLAIRMONT HAD NEVER BEEN BORN….WELL SIR, OUR FAMILY WOULD NOT HAVE MOVED TO GRAVENHURST, BACK IN THE AUTUMN OF 1989. NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THERE WOULD BE A LOT FEWER CLAIRMONTS IN THIS TOWN.
NO, I'M NOT COMPARING GRAVENHURST TO BEDFORD FALLS. BUT I AM VERY DEFINITELY STATING, THAT WE CURRIES WERE VERY MUCH INFLUENCED TO MOVE TO GRAVENHURST BY THE GOOD MR. CLAIRMONT. I TRULY BELIEVED, THAT IF HUGH LIKED THE PLACE, AND FOUND IT HAD EVERYTHING ONE NEEDED TO BE HALE AND HARDY THROUGH LIFE, IT WOULD BE PERFECT FOR OUR YOUNG FAMILY, AT THE TIME, PLANNING A MOVE SOMEWHERE SOUTH, EAST OR WEST FROM BRACEBRIDGE. WELL, HUGH WAS BORN, HAD FAMILY, ENTERTAINED US, IN MUSIC AND HIS COLUMNS, AND WAS A PERSUASIVE AMBASSADOR FOR THE TOWN "ALWAYS"……AND ITS DEFENDER, IF ANYBODY GOT A LITTLE LIPPY ABOUT GRAVENHURST'S STATE OF THE UNION……POLITICS, CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS, SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OR SPORTS. IT TOOK A FAIR BIT TO RUFFLE HIS FEATHERS BUT HE DIDN'T LIKE YOU TAKING CHEAP SHOTS, AT HIS HOMETOWN'S EXPENSE. I NEVER REALLY SAW HUGH GET MAD, BUT I DID HEAR HIM GET EVEN MANY TIMES. HE WAS A WORTHY WORDSMITH AND A KEEN DEBATER…..BUT EVERY CLARIFICATION I EVER HEARD FROM HIM, WAS ON HIS GROUNDS, HIS TERMS, AND UNDER HIS DIRECTION. IT WASN'T EASY FOR AN ADVERSARY TO GET A WORD IN, AS THEY SAY, "EDGE-WISE!" HIS RETORTS WERE LINE CANON FIRE AND THAT LOUD TOO!
ONE WINTER NIGHT, NEAR CHRISTMAS, A SHORT WHILE BEFORE WE BEGAN SERIOUS DISCUSSIONS ABOUT MOVING, SUZANNE AND I MET HUGH DEEP IN THE "INNER SANCTUM" OF SLOAN'S RESTAURANT. WE WERE THERE FOR SUPPER, AND HE HAD JUST COME IN, AFTER SOME CROSS COUNTRY SKIING. HE WAS COVERED IN SNOW, AND THE MELT WATER WAS STREAMING DOWN HIS FACE AS IF HE WAS CRYING…….BUT HE WAS LAUGHING TOO HARD TO HAVE TEARS OF SORROW. A WAITRESS FRIEND, MRS. WALKER I BELIEVE, SAID SOMETHING LIKE, "HUGHIE, YOU'RE GETTING THOSE NICE FOLKS ALL WET…..AND THE TABLE CLOTH…….COME AND SIT DOWN." HE CAME IN LAUGHING OUT LOUD…..HE SAT DOWN LAUGHING OUT LOUD, AND AFTER WE SAID FAREWELL AT THE END OF DINNER, WELL BY GOLLY, HE LEFT THE RESTAURANT LAUGHING AND SINGING, AND YELLING AT ALL THE OTHER PATRONS HE KNEW. THERE WAS NOT A HAPPIER, MORE CONTENTED MAN ON EARTH, THAN HUGH CLAIRMONT. IT'S NOT JUST MY OPINION EITHER. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A KING OR A TOWN CRIER BUT HE DIDN'T LIKE TO BE WEIGHTED DOWN BY UNNECESSARY PROTOCOLS, OR CHAINS OF OFFICE.
WHILE WE WERE TOGETHER, TUCKED INTO THE WARM BOSUM OF THE INNER SANCTUM, HUGH ASKED SUZANNE IF SHE'D EVER CONSIDER MOVING TO GRAVENHURST. I HAD ALREADY TALKED WITH HUGH ABOUT THIS A DOZEN OR MORE TIMES, WHEN WE'D GET TOGETHER WITH WRITER BRANT SCOTT, AT THE STAR MOTEL, FOR A WEE PINT OR A DOZEN. BRANT AND I USED TO TAKE OFF FROM THE HERALD-GAZETTE EARLY ON NON-PRESS DAYS, AND GET IN SOME RECREATION AT THE SQUASH AND FITNESS CLUB. AFTER I'D BEAT HIM, I HAD TO QUELL THE ANGER IN MY OPPONENT, BY BUYING SOME ROUNDS. ON MOST OF THOSE NIGHTS WE WERE IN GRAVENHURST, WE'D RUN INTO HUGH, SOMETIMES EVEN AT MUSKOKA SANDS, AND WE HAD SOME MEMORABLE CONVERSATIONS. SUZANNE, ON THIS NIGHT, ASKED HIM A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THINGS TO DO IN GRAVENHURST, AND ABOUT THE HIGH SCHOOL……AS SHE WAS THEN A TEACHER AT BRACEBRIDGE AND MUSKOKA LAKES SECONDARY SCHOOL. HE CERTAINLY HAD SOME COMPELLING ARGUMENTS FOR RE-LOCATING, AND I'VE ALWAYS REMEMBERED THAT TABLE-SIDE CHAT, BECAUSE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IT WAS ONE OF THE CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EVE OF REAL ESTATE HUNTING. WITH OUR AGENT AT THE TIME, JOHN DALZELL, OF REMAX, WE LOOKED AT FOUR GRAVENHURST HOUSES….WHICH WAS A LOT TO TAKE IN, AND WE PUT AN OFFER IN ON ONE. WITH A LITTLE TWEAKING, ADDING A FEW EXTRA DOLLARS, WE CLOSED THE DEAL FOR THE HOUSE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, PERCHED SO NICELY ABOVE THE BOG AND BORDER WOODLANDS. I COULDN'T WAIT TO LET HUGH KNOW WE HAD TAKEN HIS ADVICE. BY THE WAY, AS A SIDEBAR HERE, IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THE EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE OF MUSKOKA TODAY, DURING OUR FIGHT TO CONSERVE THE BOG, WHEN IT WAS BEING CONSIDERED AS A NEW SUBDIVISION, A FEW YEARS BACK, WE WOULD HAVE LOST THE BATTLE. IT WAS SAVED THANKS TO PUBLICITY GIVEN TO US FROM MARK CLAIRMONT AND EDITOR LOIS COOPER. I WILL NEVER FORGET THEIR HELP, AND THEIR EDITORIAL SUPPORT GENERALLY, WHICH MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE TO OUR UNDERFUNDED, RAG-TAG BUNCH OF DEFENDERS.
AS FOR BEDFORD FALLS, AND GRAVENHURST……THANK GOD HUGH WAS BORN, BECAUSE OUR LIVES WOULD ALL BE SO MUCH DIFFERENT NOW…….AND I'M PRETTY SURE, IF WE COULD WEIGH THE "WITH" AGAINST THE "WITHOUT," WE WOULDN'T BE AS HAPPY EITHER. FROM THE FIRST FEW DAYS AS A REPORTER WITH MUSKOKA PUBLICATIONS, I GOT TO MEET REGULARLY WITH HUGH, WHEN HE'D BE IN BRACEBRIDGE TO ATTEND A FRIDAY ROTARY CLUB MEETING. HE'D COME INTO THE NEWSROOM WITH GREAT THUNDEROUS BLUSTER, AND GOOD CHEER, AND ALL WORK WOULD STOP……EVEN INTERVIEWS IN PROGRESS….BECAUSE HE WAS JUST THAT KIND OF PERSON, YOU WANTED TO TALK WITH…..OR HEAR HIS STORIES ABOUT OLD TIME JOURNALISM. THERE WASN'T MUCH HE DIDN'T KNOW, OR HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT. THE BEST QUALITY OF HUGH CLAIRMONT, FOR US, WAS THAT HE NEVER, EVER PUT US DOWN AS "GREEN" REPORTERS, LIKE SOMEONE OF HIS EXPERIENCE COULD HAVE IMPOSED ON ROOKIES. HE TREATED ALL OUR NEWS STAFF WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT, AND HE NEVER SHOWED UP IN THE NEWSROOM WITHOUT OFFERING A FEW NEWS TIPS HE'D HEARD ON THE STREET. HE WAS ALWAYS A RELIABLE SOURCE AND HE HAD A NOSE FOR NEWS, AS THEY SAY.
HOW MY WRITING YEARS WOULD HAVE CHANGED
Hugh was happy we had finally re-located. It wasn't too far along, in our Gravenhurst residency, before Hugh reminded me that he had a plan, sometime down the road, to start a project that would need an experienced writer. I was working as a columnist, at the time, for a couple of publications, but when Hugh and son Mark finally called me up……everything else was of much lesser concern. When they asked me if I'd be interested in joining a new publication venture, to be known as "Muskoka Today," I was absolutely thrilled. I met with father and son, at their new office on First Street, and after a couple of hours discussing the potential, I shook hands, thanked them for including an old journalist like me in their exciting new plans, and headed home to tell Suzanne what a smart move it had been, to listen to the advice Hugh, when he said we'd be a lot happier in Gravenhurst. My column was headed, "Hometown Advantage," and amazingly, my portrait was sketched by Hugh's friend, Frank Johnston, one of Canada's finest print makers and watercolorists. It was the nicest I've ever been treated as a writer. And it happened right here in Gravenhurst. How could I not love this place?
I am not the historian of choice in this town. Not even close. To some I'm an interloper, and maybe even a transient historical type, who will pretend to be interested in local chronicles, and then bugger off after being painstakingly tutored. I've never tried to be intrusive honestly, but I've also never been accused of being a shrinking violet either. But I do understand, that arriving here in the fall of 1989, doesn't even today, by trial of time, qualify me to be anything more than an apprentice historian…..which in strictest protocol, means fetcher of tea, coffee and butter tarts, for heritage meetings. If my name comes up at heritage committee meetings, it's probably for all the wrong reasons. I've become somewhat of a rogue historian locally, and it means I don't get invited to the annual Historian's Ball, or get to go on the heritage junkets my contemporaries plan. But when they might ask, undaunted, what my qualifications are, and why I should be fast tracked into the rank and file of area historians, I will tell them, I learned more sitting and writing in the Muskoka Today office, than if I had been privately tutored by the best of the best historians.
My work space, when I needed one, was situated between Mark's editorial desk, and wherever Hugh happened to be standing or sitting. He moved around a lot. I don't know how this happened, all the time, but I was for many days, the middle Clairmont, when fire and brimstone between the two writers would erupt. Yup, there were a lot of editorial disagreements, which always worked out, and I understood all the pressures of a small publication trying to survive……and after awhile, so as to feel part of the current events, I'd start yelling my opinion as well. This was a fabulous learning experience. I didn't have single regret, offering to write for the Clairmont boys, who put out a quality product, with a little extra kick-back to the old days……and that pleased a lot of readers in our town, who praised the respectful way the paper handled local history, and interviewed the many characters, like Shorty, who were fixtures in our own little "Bedford Falls." They reminded us, about the contributions that had been made to our town, by the most unassuming, quiet and gentle citizens……who would talk to Hugh like he was family……and that's how he found remarkable stories no other paper or journalist could. He had a way with people, that made them volunteer the most amazing stories……many about the real human heritage of Gravenhurst. He was a humanist. His history of the community, that was important to him, was the human side…..the personal stories that were often neglected by formal histories, reporting on major events, building, fires, misadventures, milestones etc. He wanted to know your story. He made those who thought of themselves as ordinary, feel extraordinary when they left his company…..and he turned back to his typewriter, to write up the interview. He knew what Gravenhurst was all about. He knew what made it tick. He understood its misfortunes, missed opportunities in history, its dark side, and what gave it such a resilience, to take shortfall, and build something out of it.
I'd sit there for hours, watching Hugh do his thing. Whether it was talk on the phone to one of his buddies, or if someone came into the office for a wee chat. I listened to the dialogue between father and son, publisher/ editor and ace columnist. At times, I have to confess, that it was like being part of an old movie script, about newspaper life, back in the 1940's, because this is what was so entertaining….and absolutely historical. I was getting a history lesson every time I went to work. But I wasn't being lectured. I was just letting it all seep in….and not wanting the learning curve to end. Even sons Andrew and Robert would come into the office with me, and listen to the same animated discussion. They knew Mark would offer them time on the computer to play some video games. They had a blast, and frankly, so did I. If Hugh Clairmont had never been born. I wouldn't be writing this blog today. We wouldn't have a main street business. Our boys wouldn't have a popular vintage music shop, or work at the Opera House, or on The Barge, or have graduated Gravenhurst High School……or son Robert, wouldn't have won the Gordon Sloan Music Award. Suzanne wouldn't have transferred to GHS, and we wouldn't have ever known Birch Hollow, as a family homestead. Which means we wouldn't have these cats (two on my lap) that we rescued from The Bog. All of this…..and I could go on and on, if I hadn't known Hugh Clairmont, and believed his sincere invitation…..that Suzanne and I should bring the family, and start all over again……in the embrace of all the characters…..all the good neighbors of Gravenhurst. When I told John Black what Hugh had said, that night at Sloans, all he said was, "Well you should listen to him…..he knows what he's talking about."
Sometimes when we think of history as burdensome and boring, maybe we should draw our own parallels to the story of Bedford Falls, in "It's a Wonderful Life," and how all our lives are indeed intertwined and relevant to each others actions, reactions, and onward missions through time and place. We are the history makers.
I was tending a small campfire in the back yard, here at Birch Hollow, when CKCO reporter, and long-time friend, Gar Lewis, called Suzanne, on that memorable Christmas, to let me know he'd heard that Hugh had only recently died. I won't kid you, about all of us that day, getting choked up, because he was a hard guy to replace in all our daily comings and goings. If someone reminisced that "Hugh Clairmont was larger than life," they would be telling an historical truth. Without a doubt.
Ironic and strange as this might read, I was tending my same Yule-time fire, in the backyard, the next year, at about the same time as the call had come in from Gar Lewis, when I could hear, off in the distance, the sound of a lone trumpet through the lightly falling snow. I wondered if it had something to do with Hugh. Well it did. Mark was playing at graveside for his father, which I think has become a Christmas tradition, at the Lakeside Cemetery, a short distance from our home at Birch Hollow. Whenever I hear it, I can see Hugh just as clearly, as he was that evening, hovering over Suzanne and I in Sloans Restaurant, wishing us both a Merry Christmas…..and by God, he meant it.
Our family owes a lot to Hugh Clairmont. To the Clairmonts generally. Muskoka Today was a fun experience for those early years. And yes, it was history in progress, and there was always a lot to learn.
Thanks once again, for taking a few moments out of your busy day, to let a story spinner weave a tale of history and goodwill……a Gravenhurst story. Please come and visit once again…..when you have a few moments to spare.
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